Case Studies

Case Studies

Our Quick Reports, covering a number of topics and industries, are brief case studies put together by our researchers and analysts. Download them and understand the insight that our tools can provide.

Next-Generation Supersonic Flight

Supersonic passenger transport came to a close with the official retirement of the Concorde 15 years ago, but with recent advancements in composite structures, reduction of engines noise levels, and increased fuel efficiency, achieving a flight time of just 3 hours and 15 minutes between New York and London should soon be possible once again. With Lockheed Martin partnering with Aerion to develop smaller supersonic business jets and Spike Aerospace taking aim at the ultra-rich with their private jets expected to travel at Mach 1.6 speeds, the next supersonic flights are expected to ...

Facebook - Cambridge Analytica: A Technological Approach to the Scandal, and how Amazon fits in

The simple story is this: Facebook exposed data on up to 87 million users to Cambridge Analytica, which used the data for a major political campaign. The longer story is about the explosive research and development of the technology that allowed this to happen to begin with, and what other things these technologies are capable of doing with our data and the length of their reach. To blow the lid on this from a technological perspective, it makes sense to look at Facebook’s patent portfolio as a solid starting point...

The Next Space Race

With SpaceX seemingly in the lead of the ’second space race’, several companies with high ambitions yet approaching from different angles, and technology rolling out across a wide spectrum, how can we understand where this new space race will take us, when we will get there, and who will lead us there?If we look at the patents, follow the trail of technological advances, and pinpoint the direction that R&D is heading, we should be able to predict the evolution of space exploration 20 years out…

On May 1, 2017, the automotive industry was struck with calamitous news. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) began investigating Japanese and German automotive manufacturers, including companies such as Toyota and Honda, for violating the patents of US companies. The company that filed suit was Intellectual Ventures (IV). IV is a non-practicing entity (NPE) and perceived as...

Nanoparticle Technology: 15 Years Since the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)

One of the signature nanotechnology research areas is nanoparticles. Much R&D is performed by scaling particles down to the nanoscale, through which researchers are able to observe behavior that differs from that of bulk materials, including quatum behaviors and...

When we look at the 39,083 unexamined patent applications submitted in the US by Honda and Google in a panoramic chart, the central R&D for both companies remains separated, but the space between the technology regions that are at the core of both companies has been gradually shrinking over the years, making it clear that they are in an R&D competition for...

Fujitsu Pursued by Chinese Companies

Xiaomi's approach to catching up technologically is simple: get patent licenses, or acquire companies and technologies. Xiaomi has the rights to roughly 617 patents in the US, and 62% of these were transferred from outside rights holders. In order to compare Xiaomi's technological position with that of Fujitsu, Japan's leading telecommunications manufacturer, we created a panoramic chart using...

Apple's Next Move

Although the smartphone market continues to grow, growth in the developed markets of Japan, the US, and the EU - accounting for roughly 70% of Apple's sales in Q1 2015 - is slowing down. The question of whether the company can capture a share of growth in emerging markets seems to be the key to its future, but competition from leaders in those markets, such as China's Xiaomi Inc. is intensifying. To continue growing, Apple must...

Prime Numbers in Industrial Applications

To use a somewhat bold turn of phrase, the inventions that use these essential values are superior to those that do not, which is why the number of these types of applications are actually increasing. In the near future we expect...

Why did Apple Acquire LuxVue Technology?

In May 2014, Apple acquired LuxVue Technology, which holds microLED screen technology. LuxVue is a startup company from Santa Clara, CA. Founded in 2009, the company has already successfully earned $43 million in Series C funding. The company's technology particularly excels in...

Technological Synergy in TDK's Acquisition of InvenSense

In between the technology regions that TDK and InvenSense are involved in, there is a region nearly devoid of patent applications from either company. This region could allow for development that combines the technologies of both companies, and we can predict a few of these technologies based on the few existing patent applications found...

An Analysis of Technology Trends in Estonia - a European Country with Advanced IT

In the center of the Energy region lie the geothermal air conditioning and heat exchange devices, which reflect the geographical position of Northern European Estonia. Surrounding technologies include wind power generation, rotary engines, and shale gas refining, all relatively new technologies that are related to energy sources. We do not find traditional technologies such as...

Aerogel - a material literally full of air - and its applications

The visualization of the patent application regions for major aerogel-related players is found in this radar chart, which shows the positions for applications from three companies that have been major players for the entire period of the analysis - Konica Minolta, Panasonic, and JSR - while Adeka and Mazda have been on the rise since 2011. Looking to Konica Minolta, it is clear that its patent applications are focused on light-emitting...

Technological Approaches to Improving Traceability

Technologies in the digital signatures region fundamentally target intangible information. However, there are also applications for technologies that improve IC tag data security, such as unexamined patent application P2004-43143A from...